Packages for boil-in-bag cooking are well-known and are the most used for frozen food. The bag may e.g. contain a meal which once prepared has been thawed and cooked within the bag. These packages are inexpensive and comprise a sealed pouch, which has to be opened with scissors when the food is heated. The use of a knife or cutting means such as a knife or scissors is not very convenient. Also known are boil-in-bag packages which are opened by pulling of a tab which tears off a strip from the package. The tearing of the strip often takes place along weakening lines in the packaging material.
Other conventional packages comprise mono-oriented plastic material having V- or U-shaped pre-cuts. Due to the mono-orientation of the material a strip of the material can be torn from the package even though it is not provided with weakening lines.
The requirement of consumers is that a boil-in-bag should be easy to handle, i.e. to open and empty without any danger of burning fingers or of spilling or splashing of the contents of the bag. The above discussed packages do not fulfil these requirements sufficiently. For example, emptying by tilting of a package having a strip opening gives an uneven pouring and soiling of the outer surface of the package, while turning downwards the opening will result in splashing of the content.